Boning



April 16, 1963 w. L. CHALFIN BONING Filed March 14, 1960 FIG.1

FIG.3

FIG.2

FIG.4

INVENTOR.

William L. Chalfin Q41 4 64f I ATTORNEY a corporation Filed Mar. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 14,753

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-257) This invention relates to boning, such as is used in ladies garments for stiffening and/or shaping, and more particularly to novel flexible plastic tips for such boning and which may be stitched by a sewing needle without breakage of the needle.

Broadly, it is an object of the invention to provide a flexible terminal which is firmly held between the wire or spiral boning and the metal tip and which extends beyond the metal boning and tip to provide a flexible end through which a sewing needle may readily pass so that the boning is held in position within its pocket in the garment.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to attach to one or both ends of a spiral wire or flat steel boning a flexible plasic terminal, preferably of polypropylene, or the like, held in position beneath a metal tip, through which a machine sewing needle can pass without loss of speed or breakage.

At present boning used to stiffen and shape garments, such as girdles, corsets, corselettes and brassieres comprises relatively elongated flat metal elements formed of spiral or bent wire, or flat steel strip elements, each element having metal caps or tips to avoid sharp ends on the boning.

The use of metal tips on the boning has the disadvantage that boning must terminate short of the edge stitching of the garment since the tips cannot extend into the lines of stitching or else the sewing needles would be broken. Therefore, the boning is not stitched to the garment and at least the edge portions of the garment are not reinforced by the boning. The edge portions, being thus unsupported, tend to roll over or curl, causing discomfort. Furthermore, the shifting of the boning in the pockets provided for insertion thereof causes discomfort, particularly due to the rigid ends or tips of the boning.

Such disadvantages are obviated, to a substantial degree, by providing flexible plastic terminals for the boning. Such flexible plastic terminals are made of a plastic having the required stiffness, tensile strength, heat resistance and other necessary characteristics, can extend into the lines of stitching adjacent the margins of the garment. Thus, these margins are supported and the boning is held in position by stitching through the plastic tips.

As presently used, such plastic tips are flat, elongatedi pieces of uniform thickness which are held firmly at the end of the boning beneath the metal tip and may either pass through the open end of the metal tip or if a closed metal tip is used, the plastic element passes from the open portion of the metal tip and is folded back upon itself so that it extends beyond the metal boning and metal tip. A suitable plastic having the requisite characteristics as herein mentioned is a polypropylene.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed descriptions of typical embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a greatly enlarged plan view of one end of the boning provided with a metal tip open at both ends with a plastic terminal or element passing through the distal or extreme end;

3,085,255 Patented Apr. 16, 1963 FIG. 2 is a sectional view through line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the metal tip showing the open top;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a modified end of a boning provided with a metal tip closed at the top with the plastic element folded back and extending beyond the metal tip;

FIG. 5 is a plan view opposite to that of the view shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, numeral 20 represents one end of a spiral wire boning showing the well-known spiral wire 21 capped with a metal tip 22 having an open top 23. In assembling the three piece end shown in FIG. 1, a plastic element 24, preferably of polypropylene plastic, of uniform thickness and of a width to pass through the open top 23 of the metal tip 22, is placed between the tip 22 and the wire 21 so that the inner end 25 of the plastic element or strip is about one a line with the inner or lower legs 26 of the metal tip 22 and the opposite end extends about one inch beyond the top 23, and the end of the wire 21 is almost to the upper open end 23 of the metal tip 22. The metal tip 22 is then placed under pressure by known means so that it holds the plastic element or strip and the wire 21 in firmly locked position between the walls of the metal tip 22. The pressure is sufficient to deform the end of the plastic strip 24 into the wire 21 so that the wire and plastic is integrally united to lock the tip thereto.

Of course, the opposite end of the bonding 20 may be treated in the same manner.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, numeral represents a modification of the boning of the previous figures. In this form, the spiral wire 121 is capped with the wellknown closed end metal tip heretofore used in the industry. A plastic element or strip 124, preferably of polypropylene plastic of uniform thickness, or other plastic, which has the property of permitting it to be folded back upon itself, is placed beneath the metal tip 122 so that it is parallel with the spiral wire 121 and overlaps it. Pressure is then applied by any well-known means so that it deforms the end of the plastic strip beneath the metal tip 122 and presses it between the interstices of the wire 121 firmly locking the wire and plastic strip beneath the metal tip 122. The plastic strip may then be folded upon itself, as shown in FIG. 6 so that the free end extends beyond the top 123 of the tip 122 providing a flexible terminal for the boning.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment boning comprising a relatively elongated substantially wide and flat flexible metallic member, a terminal member of resilient plastic composition readily pierceable by a sewing machine needle, one end portion of said terminal member overlapping one end portion of said metallic member, and an elongated metal member having a cylindrical head portion and a pair of laterally related leg portions depending from said head portion, the head and leg portions of said metal member embracing and locking the opposed overlapping portions of said flexible metallic and terminal members together under pressure, the remaining portion of said terminal member projecting beyond the opening in the cylindrical portion of said metal member.

2. A garment boning comprising a relatively elongated substantially wide and flat flexible metallic member, a terminal member of resilient plastic composition readily pierceable by a sewing machine needle, and a metal cap having a closed top and open bottom embracing and locking superposed substantially coterminous end portions of said flexible metallic and terminal members under pressure, said terminal member having another portion thereof folded back on itself about the open end References Cited in the file ofv this patent of said cap and projecting beyond the closed top thereof. 10 2,933,215

UNITED STATES PATENTS Maguire Aug. 20, 1912 Shorrock Mar. 18, 1919 Sarachek Oct. 6, 1936 Berniker et a1. Mar. 1, 1955 Dick May 1, 1956 Hollar Jan. 20, 1959 Schwartz May 31, 1960 

1. A GARMENT BONING COMPRISING A RELATIVELY ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLY WIDE AND FLAT FLEXIBLE METALLIC MEMBER, A TERMINAL MEMBER OF RESILIENT PLASTIC COMPOSITION READILY PIERCEABLE BY A SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE, ONE END PORTION OF SAID TERMINAL MEMBER OVERLAPPING ONE END PORTION OF SAID METALLIC MEMBER, AND AN ELONGATED METAL MEMBER HAVING A CYLINDRICAL HEAD PORTION AND A PAIR OF LATERALLY RELATED LEG PORTIONS DEPENDING FROM SAID HEAD PORTION, THE HEAD AND LEG PORTIONS OF SAID METAL MEMBER EMBRACING AND LOCKING THE OPPOSED OVERLAPPING PORTIONS OF SAID FLEXIBLE METALLIC AND TERMINAL MEMBERS TOGETHER UNDER PRESSURE, THE REMAINING PORTION OF SAID TERMINAL MEMBER PROJECTING BEYOND THE OPENING IN THE CYLINDRICAL PORTION OF SAID METAL MEMBER. 